Morro: Pearce partnership is getting stronger

Sean Morrison is happy with the partnership he is forming with Alex Pearce.

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When they lined up alongside one an other for the opening game of the season against Ipswich, Sean Morrison and Alex Pearce were starting a partnership which has been unbroken ever since in the league.

The young centre-back duo, who had never started a match together previous to that 2-1 success against Mick McCarthy’s side, have now played 11 games on the trot in the Championship.

And while they may have taken a little bit of time to gel, the signs are that they are now forming a very solid pairing in front of Alex McCarthy.

In the first four league games of the season, Royals shipped six goals. But in the seven that have preceded the 1-0 defeat at Blackpool, they have let in just four.

They have also kept four clean sheets during that run and Morrison is more than happy with how things are progressing.

The 22-year-old said: “We’ve got a good partnership together now. It feels strong.

Alex Pearce has played every league game alongside Sean Morrison this season.

“It’s getting better and better with every game. We got a few clean sheets on the bounce which was nice.

“And the more we play together the stronger we’ll become.”

The increasing success of the Morrison and Pearce partnership has come at a cost, however, for Kaspars Gorkss.

The experienced Latvian international’s only start of the season came in the 6-0 defeat at Peterborough in the Capital One Cup.

But despite not featuring much, the 31-year-old is still playing a big part behind the scenes.

Morrison said: “Kaspars talks to me before games. With his experience, there are players he has played against before that I haven’t.

“So I can speak to him and he can tell me the best way to try and stop them.”

Morrison added: “All the centre halves at the club, and that includes Mapps (Adrian Mariappa) when he was here, have a good relationship.

“Regardless of who’s playing, we back those two to go out and do the job.

“We’re all pushing in same direction.”

Despite their good recent form, Morrison and Pearce were given a tough afternoon by the Championship’s most in-form strike force last weekend.

Burnley’s Danny Ings and Sam Vokes were both on target at Turf Moor as Royals slipped to a 2-1 defeat on Saturday.

“I don’t think we did a bad job against them,” said Morrison. “It’s just the chances they got, they tucked away.